Tuesday, 1 January 2013

Clam Shell Pen Holder

Hi everyone. As I've always told many of you, I collect rubbish. And when I say that I collect rubbish, I really do collect rubbish. I mean, who keeps clam shells if they aren't putting them into an aquarium? Right?

Well, here are 6 clam shells that have probably been in my "Rubbish-Made Treasure Box" for almost a year. I 'saved' them from a restaurant after my mom ate their flesh. Poor clams.

All of them are of a different size. A customer requested for a very simple pen holder and I agreed to that request. However, I soon realize that more weight is needed at the base in order to hold the pen upright. If the base is too light, the display item would topple over when the pen is placed in position. I rummaged through my junk and found these unused clam shells. How useful.

Not only are they heavy enough, but they have a smooth curve that could resemble a hill. My customer requested for a pen holder that has a tiny house and the word thank you. I thought about the clam shells and believed that the product would look so much better on a hill rather than flat land.

And so, I coated the clam shell with green clay. The bottom part where the clay folds over was a bit rough and took a longer time to smoothen. Good thing it's the bottom, for it won't really be seen when displayed.

Fixing the wire up was pretty challenging. The wire was not strong enough to hold a heavy pen. Also, it did not have the proper ground to hold it in place. It could not pierce through the clam shell.

I decided to add clay on the left to ground the wire, and made the wire thicker and stronger by twining two wires together. I tested it out with a pen, and it worked! The little house was then made. I baked everything, painted the THANK YOU word, and coat it with varnish.

The final product actually had grey stones as a road. It leads from the door to the left side, curves by the smiley face and reach beside the Y till the very bottom. It actually looks really adorable, but I forgot to take a picture.

Oh well. This is all for today's post! I hope you enjoyed reading! Thank you!